Drawstrings and cords are used extensively on various items such as, for example, articles of clothing, sporting goods, back packs and other apparatuses that have strings or cords for functional, fashion, or decorative purposes. For example, hoods on jackets, sweatshirts and other garments commonly are provided with drawstrings or cords, allowing the hood to be cinched around the face or neck of the wearer. Clothing such as sweat pants, regular pants, shorts, swim trunks and the like commonly use drawstrings incorporated into a garment's waist band, allowing the garment to be drawn around a wearer's waist. On luggage, backpacks and other gear, drawstrings and cords are used to fasten pockets and other openings.
With continued use, drawstrings and cords tend to shift so that one or both ends of the string will retract into a garment or carrying item, thus being unavailable for the user to implement when needed. Often users will try to tie a knot in the string to prevent string loss, but such knots can be small and do not prevent the string from receding into a garment or carrying item. Also, knotted strings or strings by themselves do not provide adequate surface area to display decorative team logos or company emblems on the string or cord.
To overcome the difficulties associated with drawstrings receding into a clothing garment or retracting into a piece of luggage, backpack, or sportspack, prior art devices such as cord locks or lace locks have been devised. Masuda et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,514) discloses a cord stopper with multiple rigid plastic interlocking parts including an insert member 12 and cylindrical housing 10. The device further comprises rigid coil springs 26 and 42, circular head 24, circular bottom lid 14, circular platform 30, all which add to the complexity of the device. In order to secure a string or cord within this device, the user must firmly squeeze and hold the cord stopper, and thread the string through, release the grip, which binds the cord thereto. While this device is able to fasten to the string, the strong springs and hard plastic can sometimes work to clinch down and damage a soft drawstring or cord. Since the cord stopper and similar devices are spring loaded, the devices work only until the string softens or hardens through multiple use, or until the spring falls out. If they come off the string, most designs fall apart because the string lets go, or one of the pieces comes off, rendering the device unusable. Moreover, the multiple parts needed to construct this device add to the manufacturing cost and manufacturing time. Lastly, the small cylindrical surface area of the cord stopper does not allow a user or maker of the device to adequately display a team or company logo or emblem on one flat surface.
Several devices have been patented which aim to secure the laces for athletic shoes. Funk (U.S. Pat. No. 6,938,308 B2) discloses a lace securing and adjusting device including a body 12 and apertures 14 and 14′ that are positioned laterally on opposite sides of a center aperture 16. Hicks et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,028) discloses a shoe lace clip 30 with holes 40 and 42 to pass both shoelaces through and slots 50 and 52 that extend into the middle of the clip which are used to increase the holding pressure on the lace ends 16 and 18. While these devices are designed to thread both laces through the middle and end apertures and slots in elaborate patterns which enable the user to secure the devices in place so as to prevent the shoelaces from being undone, the surface area taken up by the multiple apertures, slots and the laces that cover the front of the apparatuses do not allow a maker of the device or user to adequately display a wide variety and sizes of team logos or company emblem as are known in the marketplace.
What is needed in the art is a string covering apparatus of simple design comprising relatively few parts that can be attached to a string or cord to prevent the string from getting lost, while also providing space to identify the source or labeling to the user or the owner of the apparatus.